VISTA STREET WILL GET SPEED BUMPS INSTALLED

After years of residents’ complaints, a Vista street is getting speed bumps, making it less welcoming as a bypass for morning commuters.

Brookhaven Pass has seen increased traffic since it became a shortcut to avoid morning congestion, said city engineer Husam Hasenin.

In 2005 and 2006, South Melrose Drive and Faraday Avenue were converted from dead-end streets. Faraday was connected to El Camino Real and South Melrose Drive merged with Palomar Airport Road. These new routes provided another option for people traveling between state Route 78 and Carlsbad, but they also created more traffic in the area.

Traffic is particularly heavy around Sycamore Avenue from drivers turning right onto South Melrose, which eventually connects with Faraday. Instead of waiting at the Sycamore Avenue and South Melrose intersection during congested hours, more drivers are continuing from Sycamore to Brookhaven Pass and speeding to Faraday, thus bypassing a stretch of Melrose.

“It’s really dangerous for my wife and kids to pull out of our driveway in the morning,” said Floyd Graves III, who has lived on Brookhaven for seven years. “People will fly by at 40 to 50 miles per hour if they are late for work.”

Now they’ll have to contend with speed bumps. Four of them will be added to north Brookhaven Pass near Sycamore and before a curve on the residential street. They should be installed within two to three months, Hasenin said. Because the road is too steep for speed bumps at the south end near Faraday, a sign that displays a car’s speed will be added, he said.

Graves said the speed bumps have been long overdue, but he’s worried the sign won’t be enough to slow traffic at the south end of the street.

“I’m hoping the door is not shut, because although speed bumps address the flat portion, the fear is once they pass that last one, they’ll speed up,” he said.

Hasenin said that if a street is too steep, cars can lose control or go airborne when they hit a speed bump.

City officials have tried to encourage drivers to slow down with different strategies. The number of speed limit signs was increased, traffic enforcement was beefed up, and traffic light timing at Sycamore Avenue was altered to help ease left turns.

If this newest measure isn’t enough, council members said the subject might need to be revisited.

One of the requirements for speed bumps to be installed is that at least 78 percent of residents support them. For the Brookhaven bumps, only 4 percent of those polled opposed them.

The cost for the bumps will be about $8,000. The money will come from a gas tax fund.